Name withheld.
Northland's loss
It was sad to read your article about youth suicide. The part concentrating on Northland reiterated the themes of poverty and high unemployment. Have you asked the people who have continually blocked Ngapuhi from receiving a government settlement if they feel any responsibility for some of these sad statistics? Other iwi received their settlements as long as 20 years ago and their districts have flourished.
Audrey Trimmer, Whangarei.
Mixed races
I always enjoy reading Lizzie Marvelly's column and I was pleased to see her acknowledge the inequity in media profiling of top women's sport. I work in the male-dominated sport of motor racing and for a long time very few women have ventured on to the race track. Ladies' races were tried in the past with dismal results. Over the last few years, however, a number of New Zealand organisations (Women in Motor Sport, Girls in Motor Sport, and HRC Events) have run programmes encouraging women to get out on the track and compete with men.
Starting from a very low base of 1 per cent participation the results have been spectacular and now a number of women are competing and beating male drivers, sometimes winning national championships. The opportunity is there for women who want to compete on an equitable basis with men in motorsport, and for their success to be reported.
C. R. Watson, HRC Events.
Blake's Harbour
The America's Cup is New Zealand's again and we still don't have a good memorial to Sir Peter Blake who made it all possible. His legacy to Auckland is the transformed Viaduct Basin brought about through his vision and drive. A fitting memorial may be simply achieved, relatively cost free. Rename the basin "Blake's Harbour". The term Viaduct Basin means nothing now. I hope city councillors and bureaucrats get behind this now so the new name may be embedded before the next cup contest.
Derek Smith, Auckland Central.
Screening needed
Niki Bezzant has written a great article highlighting the challenges of managing gout, a form of arthritis which affects more than 160,000 Kiwis. While food, including sugar, is significant, genetics play the biggest role in determining who will get gout. Maori and Pacific people are more likely to have a gene variant that means their kidneys are less able to flush uric acid from the blood.
Managing diet will help reduce the likelihood of gout attacks but medication is important to improve kidney function and control urate levels. Arthritis New Zealand is calling for more gout screening in Maori and Pacific communities and better recognition and treatment for this common form of arthritis.
Sandra Kirby, chief executive, Arthritis New Zealand.
Grey power for pot
Bill English's continued prohibitionist stance on cannabis raises a credibility issue. It is estimated tens of thousands of New Zealanders are using, or would be prepared to use, cannabis for their own or their children's health, because cannabis works. Under current law New Zealanders are risking jail for their own or their family's health.
Our population is one of the largest users of cannabis. Common sense would tell MPs we know cannabis is not a harmful drug. Harmful and addictive drugs include pharmaceutical opioids which are available from chemists and are prescribed by doctors. We read that the Oklahoma Attorney General has filed a lawsuit challenging pharmaceutical companies for misrepresenting the risks of opioid pain medications, killing more than 33,000 people in the US in 2015.
New Zealanders need access to cannabis, which evidence shows is neither addictive nor a gateway drug. Cannabis kicks drug addictions. Polls show up to 90 per cent of New Zealanders want cannabis re-legalised. Cannabis must be re-legalised immediately.
Beverley Aldridge, President, Otamatea Grey Power.
Raising wages
The Herald editorial criticising Labour's proposed employment law reform claims it is "a step backwards". The suggestion that paying a living wage so that every employee earns enough to live on is a step backwards is extraordinary. If any employer expects their workers to provide their time and labour for anything less than a living wage then they shouldn't be in business. A low-wage economy is not a healthy economy. As for the changes to the 90-day trials, requiring an employer to provide a reason for dismissing an employee is basic fairness.
New Zealand had one of the highest increases in inequality in the OECD during the 1990s, largely because of the Employment Contracts Act. Some of the excesses of that legislation were remedied during the past Labour government but levels of poverty are still far too high in this country. These reforms being proposed by the Labour Party will go some way to remedying this situation.
K. Bates, Birkenhead.
Killing possums
I was shocked and horrified upon reading of the ghoulish glee with which a local school disposed of an invasive species. I can understand why some may come to the reluctant conclusion that invasive species need to be controlled (though I don't think we have tried hard enough as a society to find non-lethal control methods). Nevertheless, to gloat over a fallen foe and to encourage our children to drown the infants of another sentient being in such a sadistic manner does us no credit as a society.
Dr Michael Morris, Auckland Central.
Fresh ideas
I agree with Rachael Stewart's comment that, "One party has guts to tackle water issues", and that the "Opportunities Party has policies that make sense". It seems to me Gareth Morgan has a lot of fresh ideas and is the one politician that has the guts to tackle even the hardest issues front-on. I like his idea of raising the age around alcohol to 20 and if he is listening I think 12 months compulsory military training for all young men age 17 would be a great idea. Not only would it give these men a fabulous sense of direction to carry forward into their adult lives; I can see a raft of benefits including reducing youth crime, drug taking and suicides.
Glen Stanton, Mairangi Bay.
Rich citizenship
Glen Stenhouse says the case of the US billionaire clearly shows New Zealand citizenship is now just another tradeable commodity. I think Mr Stenhouse means "still" just another tradeable commodity. Bill Liu, with his multiple identities, was granted citizenship against official advice by the Labour government in a private ceremony attended by Dover Samuels and Shane Jones.
Fiona Allen, Papatoetoe.
Fluoride in tea
Thank you for reporting on our study of the fluoride content in New Zealand tea. New Zealanders have one of the highest consumption rates per person of dark tea in the world. What was missing from your article were the results Declan Waugh and co-authors reported, that fluoridation of drinking water supplies increases the risk of developing arthritis symptoms from tea drinking.
Arthritis is the leading cause of disability in New Zealand, affecting nearly one in six people and costing the New Zealand economy over $3 billion annually. Moreover, our study highlights that fluoride intake from tea and other sources is a public health concern for individuals with impaired kidney function, including individuals with diabetes which currently affects one in four New Zealand males over 75.
Dr Hardy Limeback, Professor Emeritus, Faculty of Dentistry, University of Toronto.
